15/11/23 - updated with more details about the opening
Well, this is a blast from the past. Five years after closing its overly ornate doors in Camden, the pan-Asian restaurant Gilgamesh is being reincarnated in a new site in Covent Garden.
When the original opened, it was the biggest restaurant in London (with one of the world's longest bars) that cost millions to build. It was one of those crazily designed restaurants that really had to be seen to be believed. Not only did it have escalators leading up to it out of the then-grungey Camden Market but it featured a Babylonian interior complete with retractable roof and wooden panels that took four years to carve.
The new iteration will be in markedly smaller premises (they've taken over the old Tredwell's space on St Martin's Lane) fitting about 160 people into what they're calling a Mesopotamian-inspired space.
Food-wise it continues to be a real mash-up with cuisine from China, Japan and Southeast Asia. So there will be everything from a Japanese pizza with tuna truffle mizuma through to sushi and sashimi, grilled Dover sole, steaks from the Robata grill and more.
It's certainly an ambitious affair. Will Covent Garden be a more long-term home for Gilgamesh? We'll have to see.
More about Gilgamesh
Where is it? 4A Upper St Martin's Ln, London WC2H 9NY
When does it open? 4 December 2023
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @gilgamesh.ldn
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